A new season of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center begins with an all-Mozart program featuring his sonata for violin and piano and one of the great viola quintets. While Mozart's music can come across as elegant, perfect and sublime, there are also works filled with searing intensity and heart-gripping melancholy. There is yet another Mozart, whose joy is unbridled, whose playfulness is childlike, who inspires optimism, confidence, and renewed faith in the human spirit.

A towering presence in Italian art and perhaps the greatest composer of 19th century opera, Giuseppe Verdi is one of the most venerated figures in classical music. This week WQXR's Verdi Week kicks off a 10-part series on Exploring Music that investigates his life and music.